Cyborg 009: Illumination
by D.Cobra
Summary: All new Cyborgs and a multi-layered villainous conspiracy comprise this alternate look at Cyborg 009. Joe Shimamura Marshall is kidnapped by the Black Ghost organization after graduating high school and turn him into a cyborg solider, Cyborg 009. Now he must unite with his fellow Cyborgs and bring down an international conspiracy headed by the mysterious Shadow Man.
1. Episode I: Cyborg 009

Episode I: Cyborg 009

"And so it is with great pride and distinction that I congratulate the class of 2012 on their success in graduating from Washington High School and wish them luck on their future endeavors!"

Those where the words of Principal Antonio Silva as he closed the graduation ceremony for the class of 2012 at Washington High School in Los Angels, California. The students broke out in waves of cheer, graduation caps were tossed in the air in jubilation, students high-fived and cried at the acknowledgement that four years of hard work were finally over. Among those celebrating was Joe Shimamura Marshall, a student of African and Asian ancestry who graduated at the top of his class. Joe was met with congratulations and high esteem from the faculty and his fellow classmates as he made his way outside of the convention center that housed his school's graduation ceremony and to his family waiting outside.

Even after leaving the center he had to move through a sea of beaming and crying parents to get to his own. His father, Lionel, and mother, Asami, were of similar emotion when Joe finally made it into their awaiting arms. Lionel was the first to break the ice when he said:

"Joe I am so proud of you."

Joe smiled and replied, "I couldn't have done this without you guys."

Asami was visibly fighting back tears, but managed to choke out, "I can't believe my baby has graduated high school!".

The trio continued to mill around when Joe's brother, Tyrone, pulled up in a convertible and added onto the celebration:

"Baby bro, come here!"

Instinctively, Joe and Tyrone slapped each other's palms in their traditional "secret" handshake and ended up in a brotherly embrace. Afterward Tyrone said:

"Joe, I'm sorry I couldn't make it in time to see you walk down and get your diploma, damn boss wouldn't let me out early."

"Bro, it's alright, I knew you were watching me in spirit," Joe nonchalantly replied.

Tyrone shook his head, "Naw Joe, I'm gunna make this right. Mom, Dad, I'm taking Joe out to celebrate with a night on the town."

"You two enjoy yourselves," Lionel replied, "Well see you back at the house."

The two brothers high-fived each other and hopped in Tyrone's car, which squealed away as it sped out of the parking lot. As the car drove along a scenic road overlooking the Pacific, Tyone asked:

"I heard you're going off to Japan for college, that true?"

Joe shrugged, "Yeah, but it's not big deal."

Tyrone snorted, "No big deal? Bro, not one man on Dad's side of the family has graduated college, let alone college in Japan."

"Well, Mom had a hand in me getting accepted there."

"Bull, she may have had some contacts, but your grades and accomplishments sealed the deal. Not everyone can be the fastest runner in the state AND pull straight As, especially in those high-level classes. What was it they called you in track and field?"

Joe laughed, "The bionic man."

"You might as well be part robot," Tyrone said with a grin, "You hiding things bro?"

Before Joe could reply, a large black mass dropped from the sky in front of Tyrone's car. Tyrne swerved into the rocky wall to right, sending bits of metal and glass flying. Joe got out of the car and was shocked at what he saw. Before him stood a giant robot, relatively simple in design with a black paint job and a single glowing red eye. The robot stepped towards Joe, causing him to sprint in the opposite direction. However, several black vans blocked his path, forcing him in between the now emerging band of armed men and the robot. He leaned against the railing and remembered the sea below. Both the armed men and robots came closer, the men now started to order Joe to stop. He did the only thing he believed he could do, jump.

Joe climbed over the railing and took a leap of faith. He hit the water at a bad angle and began to black out from the impact. The last thing he remembered was seeing a large mass coming for him, a large mass with a single red eye.

Joe awoke to a bright white light. As his vision re-focused, the singular light fragmented into four smaller lights. He looked around and saw various monitors and machines, indiscernible symbols and readings flashed in and out of existence on them.

"Must be in the hospital," Joe thought, "But what happened? Did I really see a robot? No, that must've just been a hallucination

He tried to get up, but Joe quickly found out he was restrained. At this realization, Joe started to panic and found that the restraints came off easily. Joe wobbled around the room in a haze, knocking over machines and setting off alarms. His focus finally returned to him and Joe found himself wearing a red outfit, a yellow scarf and black boots.

"What am I wearing?" Joe wondered aloud, he proceeded to walk towards the only exit to the room he was in. He pounded the door and was shocked to see it bend back and break as it were flimsy paper. As he staggered out of the room and into a white hallway, he was greeted by three armed guards in in black armor reminiscent of riot gear.

"Stand down cyborg!', one of the guards ordered with his rifle raised at Joe.

"Wait, don't shoot I just don't understand what's going on!", Joe pleaded.

One of the guards fired his rifle and a blue laser accelerated towards Joe. Joe held out his right hand and covered his face with his left arm awaiting the inevitable deathblow. Instead, death didn't come, instead Joe looked back at his attackers and was amazed to see a transparent, yellow shield projected into front of him. This didn't stop the guards from continuing to fire, but his shield held steady. Suddenly, Joe let out a yell and rushed towards his attackers. He concentrated on his shield and somehow managed to make it fill the whole hallway, pushing the guards up onto the shield and carrying them for a few feet. Joe managed to turn off his shield and sent the guards tumbling to the ground.

As the guards lay on the floor, Joe took a left and kept running. Suddenly, he was grabbed and pulled into a dark room. Joe managed to break free from whoever was holding him when he noticed it was a woman. She had a beautiful face with piercing green eyes and could be a model back in LA, she also appeared to be from somewhere in Central or South America. Her round stomach also showed she was pregnant. Joe finally asked:

"Who are you?"

The woman smiled, "My name is Maria, I'm Cyborg 003 and it's nice to meet you Cyborg 009."


	2. Episode II: Breakout

Episode II: Breakout

"Cyborg 009?" Joe asked quizzically, "What do you mean?"

Maria was busy scanning the room when she replied, "I'll have to explain later, we just have to re-group with the others. Follow me."

The two stepped out of the room and Joe saw she was wearing the same outfit he was wearing. As the walked all over the facility Maria would stop Joe every now and then, then she would signal forward and the process would repeat again after a good distance. Eventually Joe asked:

"Maria what exactly are you doing?"

Maria didn't respond.

"Maria!" Joe said with a little more force.

She turned and, red faced, apologized, "Sorry, I haven't been called by my own name for quite some time. Anyways my abilities let me see and hear great distances, through different wave lengths, through infrared, through pretty much everything. I guess you could say I'm a walking radar system. That's why the others had me look for you."

Joe wanted to ask about her baby, but his question was interrupted by a pair of robot guards suddenly making an entrance. They were slightly humanoid, but had blades protruding from the sides of their arms. Once again, they were painted black like the robot from the cliff, but had golden visors instead of a cyclonic eye.

"CYBORG SUBJECTS DETECTED!" one of the robots said before it leaped towards Maria. Joe screamed for Maria to watch out, but what happened next surprised him. She shifted to a combat stance and suddenly her body started to turn to a metallic looking substance. The blade of the robot snapped apart as it hit her, she returned the attempted attack with a swift punch to it's face. The robot flew across the hall and smacked violently against a wall. The other robot wisely targeted Joe forcing him back. Maria shouted:

"Hit the switch on your righter-most tooth!"

Joe felt around for the switch and was surprised to find it.

Upon biting on it, the robot began to slow down, yet he remained the same. Seeing the opportunity, he punched the robot with a superhuman amount of strength. The machine tore into pieces and fell to the ground. With the fight over, Joe asked:

"How did you know I could do that?"

Maria reverted back to normal and said, "My baby told me."

"What?" Joe asked with a puzzled look on his face.

"My child and I have a mental link with each other. She's psychic. Sometimes she even manages to influence the environment, but it's rare for her to do so."

Joe placed a hand on his head and sighed, "All of this, it's just simply too much."

Maria placed a friendly hand on Joe's shoulder and said,

"Don't worry, we'll help you make sense of everything. The others aren't too far away."

Eventually, the two cyborgs made it outside the base, but an enemy force was waiting for them. Tanks, attack helicopters, various robots and armed soldiers pointed their weapons squarely at the duo. Maria put up her metallic form and Joe projected another shield, both bracing for the worst.

It never came. An artillery shell destroyed one of the tanks, causing a brief period of disorganization in the enemy ranks. Before Joe could react, he found himself flying over the ground. Looking to his left he saw a man with a short, military style haircut. Maria was in his other hand. Looking around more, Joe found that it was the man who was the source of them flying. The man landed and with a friendly British accent:

"Looks like I nicked ya just in time."

Joe regained his sense of balance and replied, "Thanks, uh?"

The man looked taken aback and with a laugh said, "Oh my where are my manners. My name is Craig Daniels, Cyborg-002."

"I'm Joe."

Joe and Craig shook hands and before Joe could talk some more, three attack choppers where coming towards them. Craig blasted off into the air again to face them. He blew past the the first and second chopper and made a slashing motion with his arm at the third. Amazingly, without even touching it, the rotter of the helicopter was sliced off, sending the chopper to the ground in a fiery explosion. The other choppers circled back towards Craig, but one was blown apart by another artillery shell. Joe turned to see it's source, a Chinese woman was crouching with her knee pointed at where the helicopter once was. Her kneecap latched back onto her leg and she joined with Maria and Joe. Up close, Joe could notice her eyes were pure white.

"Cyborg-004 I should've known you fired that rocket," Maria said.

Cyborg-004 smiled and replied, "Who else could possibly deliver that kind of explosive ordinance?"

She looked at Joe and asked, "That him?"

Maria nodded, "Yes, that's Cyborg-009."

"Nice to meet you 009, I'm 004, but you can call me Lin if you prefer."

The final helicopter, noticing the easy demise of it's comrades, fled the scene, but not before being engulfed in flames. The helicopter swayed left and right before crashing into a nearby rockface. From the flames emerged a tall figure who made his way towards the group. He stared at Joe with a hint of disgust etched on his face and said in a distinct South African accent, "So this is Cyborg 009? I wasn't expecting one of his kind."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Joe asked with a scowl.

"Hold up you two," Craig said landing down between them, "006 don't start anything. Joe isn't the enemy."

With a growl, Cyborg-006 replied, "Depends on who you ask. In any case, follow me to the others."

Cyborg-006 turned around and started walking away, the group followed behind. Joe leaned up to Craig and asked:

"What's his deal?"

Craig sighed, "We all have long, complicated histories Joe, Jakobus over there is no exception. Let's just say he came out of a virulent time in South Africa's history, so he still clings to accepted attitudes of the time."

Joe looked toward Jakobus with a puzzled look and wondered what other types of people he would meet up with next.


End file.
